


Times Have Changed (And so Have we)

by SansThePacifist



Series: Watching the World Burn [6]
Category: Naruto
Genre: 'Madara'-centric, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Fix-It of Sorts, Fix-it (more like mess it up), Good Uchiha Obito, Identity Troubles, Im sure i forgot to tag something, Itachi is a little ooc but this is my first time writing him, Questioning Identity Validity, Questioning Memory Validity, Uchiha Massacre, Uchiha Obito Lives, Uzumaki Kushina Lives, What-If's, hahahahahaha, please dont kill me fhdjdhsksk, some foreshadowing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-16
Updated: 2019-02-16
Packaged: 2019-10-29 17:25:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17812268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SansThePacifist/pseuds/SansThePacifist
Summary: “I see,” Madara hummed, “Are you to kill them all?” The boy stiffened.“Are you to stop me?”“No, I have no particular attachment to any of them.”“Then, can I ask a favor?”“Depends, will I get anything out of it?”





	Times Have Changed (And so Have we)

Madara could go more than the average amount of months without food before the hunger clawed at him, yet only days without water before his throat would get scratchy. Perhaps his insides had been replaced as well? He wouldn't know, surgery on oneself had never been seen as advisable, after all, and he would rather not die of an infection before the plans could be finished. He had a mission to do and he’d finish it, even if ~~_especially_~~ if it killed him.

 

_“You shall bring peace and with peace will come silence.”_

 

Madara didn’t quite know what drew him to Konoha. He had trees, he had people who listened to his every word, he had a mission. What more would he ever want? What more could he need? Nobody would desire him, neither could he want them. ~~Any pieces left of who he used to be were dust in the wind, he witnessed them all burn.~~

Konoha was tainted with the blood of man, shinobi and civilian both, the earth soaked red with the lives lost. He knew well the cost of said lives, the devastation that reigned over the people. The world of shinobi was a cycle of destruction.

But Konoha was _home,_ a pathetic part of him cried. It was where he was _born_ and _raised_ and where he had learned to fight but- But. He couldn't remember what his home really looked like, if it had paper walls or if it was made of stone and wood. He couldn't… He couldn't _remember._ That was fine, though. He was Madara and he would _fix_ that. He would create a world where he could be _Kakashi_ again, where he could be _home._

Madara sighed. To create that world, he needed to continue with the plan. He needed to get the Kyuubi.

~~Kushina. Kushina. Kushina. Kushina. Kushina. Kushina. Her name was Kushina.~~

Well, he didn't really need to do the Kyuubi first, but- if he did- it might just get rid of that strange desire of his to be home again.

 

While he was circling the village, Madara caught sight of a person- shinobi, the band on his arm had said- with dark hair and a wound to their leg. They were wounded. He found himself drawn to them, walking towards them and the ninja who had ambushed them- before pausing.

Familiar.

He had to push that aside, instead he protected and guarded the man who left him confused, guiding him towards the gates. He vanished before the person could say anything else to him.

Familiar. Not familiar to Madara.

 

The person confused him for sure. They seemed to be Uchiha- Sharingan, hair color, physique, complexion- in all but attitude. At least the Uchiha was around the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, ~~she would slap him if she heard him talk about her in such a detached manner,~~ it made it easier to record her schedule. He could then report it to one of the stronger members of the Akatsuki, have then steal the Kyuubi when its Jinchuuriki was at its weakest.

Except he was the strongest out of all of them so he would have to do it.

 

The Uchiha had noticed him early on but pretended not to. Madara could see it in the way the man would pause, the way his eyes would sometimes flicker to where Madara was hiding. One day, however, Madara had gotten distracted by bright yellow hair and whiskers. He had let down his guard as his mind went into turmoil, his memories and the facts fighting against each other with vigor. That kid… He looked- The Uchiha was in front of him.

“Hey you,” The man said shouted at him, “Who are you?” And he had frozen.

“I don't- I don't know.” Liar. He was Madara. He _had_ to be Madara. The Uchiha frowned slightly, eyes going sad.

“Do you know why you're rouge?” He- Why _was_ he rouge? His throat went dry as Madara realized that he didn't remember. Wasn't he doing it to get revenge on the village? But.. Why would he have to get revenge? What did they do? He didn't remember. “Easier ques-”

Madara ran away.

 

He stopped watching the Uchiha.

He shouldn't have started to in the first place, so many of his plans had to be moved around for that waste of time, and he had _let_ the man talk to him. He was furious with himself, he had to be, he was getting _weak._ Yet, he still wanted to be there, watching the Uchiha and the Kyuubi's Jinchuriki. The man had twisted his mind, making him doubt his motives, making him desire things he never could. He hated him, he had to hate him. He hated Konoha and it's people, he wanted revenge.

 

~~Why would he want to be there?~~

 

He didn't know how he got back there, he was supposed to be in _Kiri,_ not Konoha, nevermind watching the Uchiha talk to the Kyuubi's Jinchuriki. He bit his tongue in something that felt like anger, roiling under his skin, eating at his insides and festering. He watched as she gave something to the man, watched his eyes fill up with tears that continued to fall. What- Uchiha were supposed to be proud, not.. Not-

 _Crybaby,_ the pathetic, the hidden, part of him whispered, broken beyond recognition. _He's a Shinobi, you would think he would have learned how to act like one by now._

 

~~He wondered how he knew that.~~

 

Madara's memory was fuzzy.

He couldn't remember the name of his brother ~~he didn't even know if his brother was real~~  or how he had died. He couldn't remember how he had been rejected ~~was he even?~~  or why he had to be so angry at Konoha. ~~He was more sad than anything, being left behind more than twice had hurt more than the boulder.~~  He couldn't even remember the face of his best friend.

If he thought about it too much, he would notice that his ‘best friend’ had started to look different over the years.

 

Sometimes he wondered if _he_ was real.

 

Zetsu had started to watch him more often than not.

That in itself wasn't anything special, Zetsu always wanted to know everything, but the fact that he could feel the eyes on his back, could hear the questions hidden between the words, _was._ Madara wanted to scream at the shadow-plant-man-thing, but he knew better than to confront him.

He _knew_ better.

Still, he had to stop himself from saying stupid things or acknowledging Zetsu’s existence in general. Who knew what would happen if he did.

 

One of the last things he expected when he went to the clan grounds was the sight of a boy with heavy bags under his eyes and an air of illness trying to kill an older man. They were both distinctly Uchiha and the boy wore the band of shinobi on his forehead. Madara watched the boy kill the man in what would have been called cold blood if he didn't notice the shake of said boy's hands or tears in his eyes.

The boy noticed him only a second later, turning sharply before pausing. “Who are you?” Madara noted the quiver in his voice and the form that left no openings. He also noticed the piercing red gaze of the sharingan, the three tomoe that swirled.

“I am no one important.” He said simply. “Has the clan done you wrong?”

“This is a mission, not a whim.”

“I see,” Madara hummed, “Are you to kill them all?” The boy stiffened.

“Are you to stop me?”

“No, I have no particular attachment to any of them.”

“Then, can I ask a favor?”

“Depends, will I get anything out of it?”

 

Madara ended up killing most of the clan in the end and promising the boy, Itachi, the protection of his younger brother. Zetsu was likely to get upset, but- _“Danzo said he would keep Sasuke safe, but he has never been known for following through on his promises. If you do protect my little brother then- then I'll do almost anything you want.”-_ what he would get in return was more than worth it.

All he would have to do is make sure an old man would not get his hands on a boy.


End file.
